Martin Scorsese amongst FOCAL International Award winners

28 April 2010

Mr. Martin Scorsese was present last night amongst his fellow winners at the prestigious FOCAL International Awards in association with AP Archive to receive the Award for Best Archive Restoration / Preservation Project .

As Chair of the Film Foundation, established by Mr. Scorsese, dedicated to protecting and preserving motion picture history, he was thrilled to receive this accolade in recognition of the restoration work carried out on the classic 1948 film The Red Shoes.

In receiving the award together with Fiona Maxwell, ITV Director of Operations ITV Global, Mr. Scorsese said, “ It's been incredibly gratifying to help restore this magnificent film that has meant so much to me and many others. It's been remarkable to hear from the many people seeing the film for the first time - and re-discovering the film - through this restoration and re-release.

It's served as a reminder of how important restoration is in introducing new audiences to great films from the past. I'm honoured to be here to represent The Film Foundation and our partners on this project; ITV, BFI, UCLA Film & Television Archive, and our generous funders, the HFPA and the Louis B Mayer Foundation. FOCAL International serves a crucial role in preservation by promoting and highlighting restoration work and recognising the technical expertise required. It's an honour to be recognised among the excellent group of projects that received nominations this year.”

FOCAL International the trade body representing the world’s footage archives, professional footage researchers, consultants and facility houses welcomed nearly 400 media professionals from the UK and around the world to enjoy an evening of glamour, with celebrated British film-maker Lord (David) Puttnam, FOCAL International’s Chair of Patrons,presenting the Awards.

The international scope of these prestigious awards was evident with six out of the nine programmes shortlisted in the Best Use of Footage in Factual Productions category being from France, Spain and the USA. Amongst the winners was JFK – 3 Shots That Changed America (New Animal Productions) and Under the Banners / Sous les Drapeaux (AMIP).

It was another French production by Serge Bromberg’s Lobster Films which won the Award for Best Use of Footage in a Cinema Release with his enigmatic Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno.

Category winners represented the diversity of genres and platforms that contemporary archive and footage based productions span today; highlights included the BBC stealing the Award for Best Use of Footage in an Entertainment Production for The Great British Foreign Holiday.

The BBC picked up further gongs with Crude Britannia: The Story of North Sea Oil , Legends: The Motown Invasion, Empire of Cricket, Witness: Apartheid, South Africa plus Adam Curtis’ innovative It Felt Like a Kiss, which won the Award for Best Use of Footage on Non-television Platforms.

AP Archive , received the popular vote from FOCAL International members to become Footage Library of the Year and t he professional skill of Footage Researchers was recognised in different ways. Barry Purkis, best known for many years’ work on BBC’s current affairs flagship, Panorama, earned the Jane Mercer Footage Researcher of the Year Award for his work on The Lost World of Communism.

A special award was presented by Lord (Melvyn) Bragg acknowledging the collective work of the many researchers who had contributed to the South Bank Show over 30 years. This was accepted by long term researcher Phil Windeatt on behalf of those assembled.

Finally, this year’s annual Lifetime Achievement Award went to David Atkinson , who is about to retire from Prime Focus after 50 years in the film and video facilities business in which he contributed significantly to numerous restoration projects and archive-based programmes. It was noted that David’s involvement with archives had not been limited to the workplace – he had served for 15 years on the FOCAL International Executive and numerous other committees, including the BKSTS, SMPTE and the British Standards Institute.

Special Award for Footage Research on the South Bank Show Received by Philip Windeatt on behalf of all the footage researchers

Awards for Best Use of Footage in Factual Productions (3 awards of equal standing )

Sponsored by BBC Motion Gallery
Crude Britannia: The Story of North Sea Oil (BBC)

Award for Best Use of Footage in an Entertainment Production Sponsored by Fremantlemedia – Archive Sales
The Great British Foreign Holiday (BBC)

Award for Best Use of Footage in an Arts, Music or Drama Production Sponsored by Clips & Footage
Legends: The Motown Invasion (BBC Wales)

Award for Best Use of Wildlife and Natural History Stock Footage Sponsored by Framepool
Shark Nicole (NHNZ)

Award for Best Use of Sports Footage Sponsored by ITV Sport Archive
Empire of Cricket (BBC)

Best Use of Footage in an Advertisement or Trailer Sponsored by Huntley Film Archives
EDF Energy: ‘Olympic London’ for Green Britain Day (EURO RSCG London)

Award for Best Use of Footage in a Short Production Sponsored by WRN Broadcast
Flash Forward (And Back) (David Hopkinson)

Award for Best Use of Footage on Non-television Platforms Sponsored by Footage Farm
It felt like a kiss (BBC & Punchdrunk)

Award for Best Use of Footage in an Educational or Corporate Production Supported by Skillset
Witness: Apartheid, South Africa (BBC)

Award for Best Use of Footage in a Home Video ReleaseSponsored by INA
Over Our Dead Bodies (Stewkley Film Archive)

Award for Best Use of Footage in a Cinema Release Sponsored by ITN Source
L’Enfer d’Henri-Georges Clouzot / Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno (Lobster Films)

Award for Best Archive Restoration or Preservation Project Sponsored by BBC Studios and Post Production
The Red Shoes (1948)
(Restoration by ITV, the BFI, The Film Foundation and UCLA Film and Television Archive)

The Jane Mercer Footage Researcher of the Year Award Sponsored by AP Archive
Barry Purkis, for The Lost World of Communism (BBC)

Footage Library Person of the Year Sponsored by Deluxe Digital, London
Robin James (BBC Motion Gallery)

Footage Library of the Year Supported by Film London and London Screen Archives
AP Archive

Lifetime Achievement Award David Atkinson (Prime Focus)

About The Film FoundationA non-profit organization established by Mr. Scorsese, dedicated to protecting and preserving motion picture history. Since its inception in 1990, the foundation has been instrumental in raising awareness of the urgent need for film preservation and has helped to save over 545 motion pictures by providing annual support for preservation and restoration projects at the leading film archives. Mr Scorsese is also a founding member of the National Film Preservation Foundation and serves as a Co-Chair of the National Center for Film and Video Preservation at the American Film Institute. In 2006, Mr. Scorsese founded the World Cinema Foundation to address the issue of preserving films from developing countries.

About FOCAL International:
The Federation of Commercial Audiovisual Libraries International Ltd, is a not-for-profit professional trade association providing excellent networking and marketing opportunities for content industry professionals and giving users easy access to over 300 members worldwide:

FOOTAGE LIBRARIES selling clips, archive, footage, stock shots, stills, audio FOOTAGE RESEARCHERS with the professional skills to find and deliver the material, on time, within budget, rights cleared FOOTAGE CONSULTANTS to advise on content management solutions and use of valuable library assets FACILITIES with the technical equipment and expertise to store, restore or deliver the material on any format MEDIA LAWYERS specialising in media and copyright issues. Use FOOTAGE FINDER, RESEARCHER FINDER and FACILITY FINDER – FREE services giving fast easy access to footage and its professionals.